PRICELESS: FINDING YOUR VALUE IN GOD 14
Some things money won t buy. Remember those credit card commercials that went something like this? > > Two tickets to the big game: $46 > > Two hot dogs, two popcorns, two sodas: $27 > > One autographed baseball: $50 > > Real conversation with your grandchild: Priceless What gives something value? > > The Mint does not use $20 worth of ink to print a $20 bill. > > They don t make it with $20 worth of paper. The paper is the same as in a $1 bill. > > A $20 bill is worth $20 because the government says it is worth $20. What gives you value? Your value is determined by God. Your worth is based on the fact that God created you, loves you, and gives you value. And unlike items that go up or down in worth and value based on the opinions of others, your value doesn t change. Because God isn t going to change His mind, we can know that the value He has assigned to us isn t going to change either. But how can you know you are highly valued by God? This study will examine seven things God has done for you that speak to your worth to God. You are priceless. Gran t Ethridge Grant is the senior pastor of Liberty Baptist Church in Hampton, Virginia, a church he has served and led since 2006. He and his wife, Tammy, have four children and four grandchildren. 15
Connect to Christ, Community, and Cul ture As you lead your group in this study, help them to know CHRIST and His gracious work, live as contributing servants in the COMMUNITY of faith, and effectively engage the CULTURE without losing distinction. Note in the group plans the icons (below), which identify activities to help group members connect in specific ways to Christ, Community, and Culture. Christ Community Culture Christ Christ extends grace and forgiveness to us and invites us into His family. Jesus Christ forgives completely. 16
Community God adopts us as His children, which means we are adopted into His family: the church. Each believer is uniquely gifted, and we need each other. Culture We go out into the world in the strength and power of God. Our motivation to love others and honor Christ in what we do is a welcome contrast to the self-serving motivation exhibited by the world. Helping you move from where you are to where God wants you to be. This is your passion for your class or group. Yet helping different individuals each take their next step to grow as disciples is challenging. The Transformational Discipleship Assessment (TDA) is a quick and easy tool to help you discover how you and the members of your group are doing in eight essential areas of discipleship. The TDA provides next steps to help your group move from where you are to where God wants you to be. The assessment is online which allows each group participant to complete it in the comfort and privacy of their homes, offices, or even on their mobile devices. Discover more at TDA.LifeWay.com. 17
GET INTO THE STUDY 10 minutes GUIDE: Direct attention to the contents page in the Personal Study Guide [PSG] (p. 3). Note that today the group begins a sevensession study about finding our value in God. Review the titles. (ENHANCEMENT: Note the session titles on Pack Item 1: Priceless. ) Introduce session 1 by directing the group to look at the picture on PSG page 12. DISCUSS: Question #1 (PSG, p. 12): When was a time you truly realized someone loved you? GUIDE: Introduce The Point (PSG, p. 13): We are loved by God, our perfect Father. Direct attention to The Bible Meets Life (PSG, p. 13). Note the story of the author s wife calming the child in the Calcutta orphanage. SAY: God has reached out in love to us in Christ. He wants to adopt us into His family. SESSION 1 ADOPTED INTO GOD S FAMILY The Point We are loved by God, our perfect Father. The Bible Meets Life One of the hardest things for us to do is to love unconditionally. Even within families, our ability to love freely can be impacted by the hurts or disappointments we experience. It s easier to love when love is returned. God is not like that. Regardless of what we ve done, He loves us. And He loves us so much He made it possible for us to be adopted as His children. The Passage 1 John 3:1-10 The Setting First John was written to encourage Christians to remain true to their faith in Jesus Christ. A heretical group had split from the believers church (1 John 2:19) but was still trying to influence them. Among the heretics teachings were denials that Jesus was the Messiah, God s Son (2:22; 4:15; 5:1); Jesus had come in the flesh (4:2-3); and the atoning nature of Jesus sacrifice gives eternal life to those who believe in Him (5:6-13). 18 Session 1
1 John 3:1-3 1 Look at how great a love the Father has given us that we should be called God s children. And we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn t know Him. 2 Dear friends, we are God s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure. In His love, God the Father makes us His children. 1 John s purpose for writing his first letter was to warn his fellow believers against false doctrine that led to false living, living that denied the power and truth of the gospel. Our text is part of a section that begins in 2:28. Verses 28-29 stress two prominent New Testament themes: (1) Because Jesus is coming back, we should always be ready for that moment so that we may have boldness and not be ashamed before Him (v. 28). (2) Jesus followers prove their relationship to Him by doing what is right (v. 29). In 3:1-3, John emphasized that Jesus followers will reflect His purity. John encouraged his readers to remain pure by reminding them of the Father s love and their status as His children. Verse 1. Look at how great a love the Father has given us that we should be called God s children. Perhaps John s words remind you of other New Testament passages that describe the magnitude of God s love for us (such as John 3:16; Rom. 5:8; 1 John 4:9-10). The first-century Romans and Greeks who worshiped false gods would never have talked about how their gods loved them. They tried to earn the favor of their gods by their religious deeds. Sadly, the same approach is common among today s false religions. Despite their best efforts, millions of people have no assurance of any lasting blessing. They can only hope that their gods will look favorably on them. Only Yahweh, the One True God, comes to us with perfect and limitless love through His Son Jesus Christ. When you consider the relationship of a father and his children, you realize that there are two very different views. STUDY THE BIBLE 1 John 3:1-3 10 minutes SUMMARIZE: Direct the group to turn to 1 John 3. Introduce the focal passage by summarizing John s purpose for writing his letter. (See the Bible commentary 1.) READ: Invite a volunteer to read verses 1-3. GUIDE: Draw attention to the first sentence in verse 1: Look at how great a love the Father has given us that we should be called God s children. Clarify what is meant by God s children. > > As Creator, God is in a sense the Father of all human beings. But this sense of fatherhood is limited. God may be the Father of all humanity through creation, but this fatherhood does not resolve either the problem of separation from God due to sin or the just punishment due to all people for their sins. SUGGESTED USE WEEK OF DECEMBER 6 19
THE POINT We are loved by God, our perfect Father. > > For followers of Jesus Christ, God is not only Father in the sense that He is Creator: He is Father in a spiritual sense through believers faith in Jesus Christ. GUIDE: Call attention to the first part of verse 2: We are God s children now. Note the word now. Write NOW on a board or a large sheet of paper. Stress that if we have trusted Christ as Savior and Lord we are His children right now. We are not waiting to be adopted into His family someday in the future. We are in His family at this moment. Emphasize that God s love for us is not based on our performance. He loves us because it is His nature to do so. He will never love us more, and He will never love us less. He will never let His children go. Invite the group to say together the quote from Cecil Frances Alexander on PSG page 15: O Love that wilt not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee. 20 Session 1 Every child has an earthly father who was part of his or her conception. However, that sense refers only to paternity. Sadly, we often hear about lawsuits where DNA is used to prove or disprove a child s paternity. What a terrible reflection on our world s distorted values! Gratefully, many fathers are proud of their role as fathers, not only in the process of conception but in the process of rearing children to maturity. They view their role as fathers with gratitude and honor. As Creator, God is in a sense the Father of all the human beings He creates. He has a universal claim of paternity. However, this sense of fatherhood is limited, in that while God may be the Father of all humanity through creation, this fatherhood does not resolve either the problem of separation from God due to sin or the just punishment due to all people for their sins. But for the Christian, for the true follower of Jesus Christ, God is so much more. He is not only our Father in the sense that He is our Creator: He is our Father in a spiritual sense through our faith in Jesus Christ. We can legitimately pray as Jesus taught us, Our Father in heaven (Matt. 6:9). This is the emotionally charged image John was trying to convey to his readers as he challenged them to live in purity and faithfulness. John emphasized the uniqueness of our relationship by comparing the response the Christian receives from the world to the response Jesus received when He was physically present on the earth. The reason the world does not know us is that it didn t know Him. At best the non-christian world says Jesus followers are sincere but confused individuals. More often they refer to us as ignorant bigots when we claim an absolute standard for truth. In his Gospel, John wrote that though Jesus, the Son of God, was in the world... the world did not recognize Him and His own people did not receive Him (John 1:10-11). John s point here in his letter was not that we should retreat from obedience to God s truth but that we should faithfully persevere, regardless of the response of the non-believing world. Verses 2-3. In these verses John referred back to one of his opening themes: we should be faithful so that we can be found bold in our service and pure in our character when Jesus returns. We are confident of our status as God s beloved children; but when Jesus returns, our status will be even better. Then we will be like Him and able to see His full glory. John probably had in mind part of Jesus priestly
prayer recorded in John 17: Father, I desire those You have given Me to be with Me where I am. Then they will see My glory, which You have given Me (17:24). He might also have been thinking of the transformation of the believer described by Paul in 2 Corinthians 3:18: We all... are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory. John used this certain hope of being with Jesus in all His glory to challenge believers to aim for the highest standard. They were to settle for nothing less than the same kind of moral and spiritual purity Jesus reflected. John not only called for purity in Jesus followers but emphatically stated that those whose hope is in Jesus will reflect His character everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure. 1 John 3:4-8 4 Everyone who commits sin also breaks the law; sin is the breaking of law. 5 You know that He was revealed so that He might take away sins, and there is no sin in Him. 6 Everyone who remains in Him does not sin; everyone who sins has not seen Him or known Him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you! The one who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 The one who commits sin is of the Devil, for the Devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the Devil s works. In His love, God the Son removes our sin. Verse 4. John knew false teachers were saying sin was really no big deal. They taught this view because they believed that the body was evil and separate from the soul which was good. These teachers claimed what we do in our physical bodies has no effect on our spiritual well-being. Some even said Christians should sin so they could experience more of God s grace. Paul addressed this same issue, possibly refuting an accusation by his enemies of teaching such DISCUSS: Question #2 (PSG, p. 15): What about God s love in this passage really captures your attention? Why? (Alternate: How do we overcome our tendency to accept people based on their performance?) TRANSITION: In His love, God the Father makes us His children. And in His love, God the Son removes our sin. STUDY THE BIBLE 1 John 3:4-8 15 minutes READ: Invite a volunteer to read verse 4. GUIDE: Acknowledge that all people have sinned. Call attention to the first paragraph on PSG page 16, which begins with We all have sinned. Note that we sometimes treat our little sins as not that important. DISCUSS: Question #3 (PSG, p. 16): Why do we tend to treat some sins lightly? 21
THE POINT We are loved by God, our perfect Father. GUIDE: Emphasize the need to take all sin seriously. Treating any sin lightly is out of place for a follower of Jesus. READ: Ask a different volunteer to read verses 5-6. SUMMARIZE: Sin is so serious that God sent His Son to take it away. Jesus dealt with our sin problem by being sinless. He died the death we all deserve and gave us life instead. He took our sin and gave us His righteousness. GUIDE: Clarify verse 6, which is sometimes mistakenly interpreted to mean that believers can achieve sinless perfection in their earthly lives. Emphasize that the Bible does not teach sinless perfection. Believers will never stop struggling with sin. John was talking about the practice of sin rather than the struggle with sin. In the original language the phrase does not sin (v. 6) is a present tense verb denoting continuous action. heresy (Rom. 6:15). Of course, he strongly denied such error (vv. 16 23). John stressed that any kind of sin is breaking God s law. Treating sin as no big deal is totally out of place for a disciple of Jesus Christ (1 John 2:3 4). Verse 5. To reinforce his point, John reminded his readers that God the Father had sent Jesus so that He might take away sins. Over and over the New Testament writers stressed this great truth (Matt. 1:21; John 1:29; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 3:18). Jesus was able to take away sins because He Himself was sinless (Heb. 4:15) and perfectly obedient to His Father (Phil. 2:8). Jesus fulfilled Isaiah s prophecy that God s righteous Servant will justify many, and He will carry their iniquities (Isa. 53:11). That is why Peter declared, There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people, and we must be saved by it (Acts 4:12). How absurd it would be for a disciple of Jesus to say there s nothing wrong with continuing to sin. Such a claim denies the reality that Jesus died in order to take away the awfulness of our guilt and slavery to sin. Verse 6. John continued to an even stronger argument to urge his readers to stop sinning. Everyone who remains in Him does not sin. Just in case his readers were not clear on his point, he added that everyone who sins has not seen Him or known Him. What was John saying? Clearly, he did not mean believers are sinless. Look at 1 John 1:8 2:2. There he assumed believers will sometimes refuse to obey Jesus call to pattern their lives after the perfectly holy character of His Father (Matt. 5:48). John knew that not only will believers be tempted to sin; but, because we still retain our sinful natures, we will sometimes yield to Satan s temptations. If we claim to be sinless, we re only fooling ourselves (1 John 1:8). John never suggested that our sins will separate us from God s saving grace. Instead, he urged his readers to go to God and confess their failures so that God could forgive and cleanse them from all unrighteousness [sin] (v. 9). He was not saying God would restore our salvation. There was no need for that. He was saying God would restore our closeness and our fellowship with Himself. If John didn t mean believers will remain sinless or believers could lose their salvation, what did he mean in verse 6? The key to understanding his meaning is to examine 22 Session 1
the tense of the verbs in the Greek language used by John. The tense used in verse 6 implies a continuing action, a habit, in this case habitual acts of sin. The inclusion of the notes with the translation from the HCSB Study Bible (see text in brackets) makes the meaning clear: Everyone who remains in Him does not sin [not keep on sinning]; everyone who sins [who keeps on sinning] has not seen Him or known Him. 1 Several other translations (NIV, Phillips, GNT, The Message) reflect the same meaning. In other words, in verse 6 John was describing a person whose life reflects a continuing pattern of sin. John wasn t talking about a single sin (or even a particular sin or sins that a believer might continue to struggle with) but a lifestyle of sinning. A person who claims to trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord but who continues in all the same sinful habits, whose supposed faith in Christ leads to absolutely no change in his or her behavior and lifestyle, is mistaken. This person doesn t truly know Jesus; he or she is not a real disciple of Jesus Christ. John s point was that genuine believers don t continue to sin in the same old ways or to the same degree they did before they were saved. True children of God are allowing the Holy Spirit to renew and transform them so that they sin less and love more (Rom. 12:2,9-10). The theological term is sanctification, the process God uses to increase our holiness so that our character becomes more and more like the character of Jesus. Peter reflected this same theme when he wrote that God s divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3). John was urging his readers to take sin seriously and to make sure they were growing in Christ-likeness. Verses 7-8. John was concerned that the false teachers were deceiving his friends, so he laid out the facts in simple terms. The one who does what is right is righteous.... The one who commits sin is of the Devil. Jesus used a metaphor to describe the same thing when He said, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit (Matt. 7:17). Again John stressed that genuine believers produce righteous, godly, spiritual fruit. Unsaved people can t do that. The lives of unsaved people reflect the author of sin the Devil. The lives of saved people reflect the Author of righteousness Jesus Christ. Besides coming to set us free from the guilt and slavery of sin, Jesus also came to destroy the Devil s works, that is, sinful deeds that dishonor God the Father and His Son. Jesus destroyed the result of the Devil s actions by removing the guilt of sin for all who trust Him as Savior. Our guilt can destroy us and render us ineffective in serving God and SAY: In other words, a child of God cannot, without any desire for repentance, continue to live in sin and enjoy it. READ: Ask a different volunteer to read verses 7-8. SUMMARIZE: The life of the Christian should reflect Christ in thought, word, and deed. This is not sinless perfection, but growth in Christlikeness, with repentance as necessary. The person who lives a lifestyle of unrepentant sin is not a follower of Christ. DISCUSS: Question #4 (PSG, p. 18): What does it say about me when I repeatedly struggle with the same sin? (Alternate: How do you define abiding in Jesus?) DO: Direct attention to the activity, Struggling or Practicing? (PSG, p. 18). Invite volunteers to share their responses. 23
THE POINT We are loved by God, our perfect Father. TRANSITION: Because God loves us, He not only removes our sin, He also imparts a new nature to us as His children. STUDY THE BIBLE 1 John 3:9-10 5 minutes READ: Invite a volunteer to read verses 9-10. GUIDE: IN ADVANCE, procure some kind of seed(s). (OPTION: Provide the corresponding plant or flower to match the seed.) Following the Scripture reading, focus on the word seed in verse 9. Show your seeds to the group. Note the seed you place in the ground will bring forth a plant true to the nature of the seed. Grass seed will not bring forth a rose. A seed of corn will not bring forth a tomato. Explain that the seed God places within us is a new nature a nature that is able to resist sin and bring forth the fruit of love for God and other people. 24 Session 1 others. Jesus came to cut the chains of guilt that hold us enslaved in the Devil s darkness and to bring us out into His glorious light. 1 John 3:9-10 9 Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because His seed remains in him; he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God. 10 This is how God s children and the Devil s children are made evident. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother. KEY WORD: Seed (v. 9) Seed is the translation of a Greek term originally used to mean the literal seed of a plant; but, gradually it acquired the poetic sense of anything that has the power to create or give life. It was used as a synonym for words such as family and descendants. John s reference in 1 John to God s seed may refer to the grace and power of the gospel, or to the new life placed in the believer by the Holy Spirit. In His love, God imparts a new nature to His children. Verses 9-10. In verse 9 John continued the theme he introduced in 2:29: everyone who does what is right has been born of Him. Everyone who has been born of God does not sin. Again, we need to remember the significance of the tense of the Greek verb John used. He was not talking about being sinless, but about not continuing to be controlled by sinful desires. Our new birth in Jesus means we are new people in our hearts and minds. John explained the reason for this newness when he wrote, because His seed remains in him. John said we don t continue to sin because God s seed lives in us. Seed is the translation of a Greek term originally used to mean the literal seed of a plant; but, gradually it acquired the poetic sense of anything that has the power to create or give life. It was used as a synonym for words such as family and descendants. John s reference in 1 John to
God s seed is unique and may refer to the grace and power of the gospel, or to the new life placed in the believer by the Holy Spirit. Because of the power of the gospel and the Spirit s transforming presence, we have a new spiritual power. The believer is not able to sin, that is, continue to obey the Devil. Now the believer s focus is to honor and obey God. Not only does Jesus disciple want to obey God: he or she is able to obey God (Phil. 2:13). All of us have heard testimonies from individuals who were enslaved by various kinds of sinful addictions alcohol, drugs, pornography, wealth, power, and so on but who found freedom in Christ. We praise God for such examples of how the power of spiritual rebirth transformed those lives. But all of us should also be able to give our own testimonies of the transforming power of God s grace. We might not have fallen to the same depths or hurt ourselves and others to the same degree, but we know we were caught in the same kind of slavery to the Devil. We know that now our focus is different: our words are different, our actions are different. We are different from who we would have been without Jesus. John concluded this section by repeating his emphasis from verses 7-8: the proof of who is really a child of God is how he or she lives. The opposite is also true: those who aren t God s children those still enslaved by the Devil also reveal their true character by their lifestyles. Probably John emphasized this point to warn his readers about being deceived by false teachers (1 John 3:7). Though believers can sometimes recognize false teachers by the errors in their doctrine, an even better way to recognize these kinds of people is by their lives their values, their speech, their behavior. However, we should also consider how the truth John presented applies to our own lifestyles. Jesus calls all of us to let our light shine through our good works so that others will give glory to our Father in heaven (Matt. 5:16). Jesus warned us to stop pointing out the speck of dust in our brother s eye until we first get rid of the log that is in our eyes (7:1-5). As John wrote, our lifestyles should reveal to all who see us that we are God s children. This will only happen when we allow God s seed to flourish in us. SAY: A tree is known by its fruit, and a Christian is known by the way he lives with Christ and for Christ. GUIDE: Remind the group of the significance of the tense of the Greek verb John used. He was not talking about being sinless, but about not continuing to be controlled by sinful desires. Our new birth in Jesus means we are new people in our hearts and minds. DISCUSS: Question #5 (PSG, p. 20): What does it look like when we reflect the nature of God? (Alternate: What are some practical ways we can help others know they are loved by God?) 1. HCSB Study Bible, gen. ed. Edwin A. Blum and Jeremy Royal Howard (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2010), 2173. 25
THE POINT We are loved by God, our perfect Father. LIVE IT OUT 5 minutes GUIDE: Emphasize The Point: We are loved by God, our perfect Father. Review Live It Out (PSG, p. 21; see text to the right). Invite group members to think about which application speaks most to their needs. Wrap It Up GUIDE: Emphasize that in a world filled with conditional love, people long for a love that has no strings attached. SAY: We can be the people to help others come to know that kind of love in a relationship with God and His people. LIVE IT OUT We all want to be loved. But many times we find conditions attached. I ll love you if. I ll love you when. But everything changes when we discover a God who says, I love you with no conditions attached. Have you experienced that love? Will you show it to others? Which of these application ideas is God leading you to complete this week? > > Embrace the love of Christ. If you have never turned from your sin to follow Christ as Savior and Lord, do so now and be adopted into God s family. Talk to your Bible study group leader or read No Fine Print on page 2 [PSG] to discover how to begin experiencing the new life found only in the Lord Jesus. > > Show the love of Christ. Write down the name of at least one person you know personally who is in need. Whether it is providing a meal, cleaning the house, repairing a faucet, helping with childcare, or simply spending time with him or her, do whatever it takes however long it takes to help this person know he or she is loved by God. > > Speak the love of Christ. Whom would you like to talk to about Jesus, but for one reason or another you have put off doing so? Ask God to provide an opportunity before Christmas for you to speak with this person about the love of God found only in a relationship with Jesus. PRAY: Thank God for His never-failing love. Pray that group members will understand that God truly loves them. Ask the Lord for the strength to rest in that knowledge. 26 Session 1
ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/MIKE RUTHERFORD Egyptian children play marbles. The following excerpt is from the article Children in John s Letters (Sum. 2015), which relates to this significant when we notice that the ethic of love permeates the letters; it is the dominant ethic. The call and command to love has an even greater force when seen through this perspective (see 1 John 3:10-18; 4:7-12,16-21). Similarly the warnings about sin (1:8; 2:1-2; 3:4-10), the warnings about false doctrine (2:18-28; 4:1-6), the assurance of forgiveness (1:9; 2:1-2), and the assurance of salvation (5:13) are more compelling and authoritative coming from a loving father to his dear children. SHARING THE GOOD NEWS Jesus made adoption into God s family possible through His death and resurrection. We are adopted into God s family as we place our faith and trust in Jesus. Each week, make yourself available either before or after the session to speak privately with anyone in your group who wants to know more about becoming a Christian. See the article, Leading Someone to the Greatest session and can be purchased at www.lifeway.com/biblicalillustrator. John s referring to his readers as his dear children speaks volumes about his closeness to them and the intent of his letter. He wrote not simply as a pastor, or as a friend, or even as a brother in Christ, but as a parent, a spiritual parent with the responsibilities and concerns any parent has. This is especially Read the article Sin and Lawlessness in the Winter 2015-16 issue. Previous articles Love in John s Writings (Sum. 2011) and Abide: The Meaning (Win. 1999-2000) relate to this session and can be purchased at www.lifeway.com/ biblicalillustrator. Look for Bundles: Bible Studies for Life. Subscribe to Biblical Illustrator at www.lifeway.com/biblicalillustrator, or call 1-800-458-2772. Decision of All, on page 2 for guidance in leading a person to Christ. Remind group members that page 2 in the PSG offers guidance in how to become a Christian. Encourage believers to consider using this article as they have opportunities to lead others to Christ. > > Get expert insights on weekly studies through the Ministry Grid (MinistryGrid.com/web/BibleStudiesFor Life). >Grow > with other group leaders at the Groups Ministry blog (lifeway.com/groupministry). > > Additional ideas for your group are available at BibleStudiesFor Life.com/blog. 27